Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
2. Improving business portfolio management of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in China
4. Making a Business Services sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
Strengths of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci in Business Services industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci staying ahead in the Business Services industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Business Services industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to lead change in Business Services
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is one of the leading players in the Business Services industry in China. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Business Services industry in China but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Business Services industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Learning organization
- Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Business Services industry
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Business Services industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management in the Business Services industry
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is present in almost all the verticals within the Business Services industry. This has provided Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Weaknesses of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the Business Services industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of China, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is one of the leading players in the Business Services industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Business Services industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Business Services industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Business Services industry, but Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to focus more on services in the Business Services industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Business Services industry, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci, in the dynamic environment of Business Services industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is just above the Business Services industry average. It needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Business Services sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Business Services industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Business Services sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Business Services industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Business Services industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci in the Business Services industry. Now Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Business Services industry. This can help Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to build a more holistic ecosystem for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci products in the Business Services industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Business Services industry.
Manufacturing automation
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Business Services sector. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Business Services industry are lowering. It can presents Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Business Services sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci in Business Services industry. The Business Services industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the Business Services industry.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Business Services sector.
Increasing wage structure of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci prominent markets.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is facing in Business Services sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Business Services industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in Business Services industry and other sectors.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Suzhou Electrical Apparatus Sci needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.